Lindy rigging a crankbait?

[anchor man]

I plan to troll some cranks over deep water this weekend. I won't be using lead core so I was wondering if anyone ever uses a lindy rig with a long leader tied to a crank bait? If I used a bell sinker would this work to get the crank 20ft down or so and still be able to troll around 2mph? Or, would the sinker restrict the crank from diving at that speed. Just looking for some other options than lead core line.

Thanks

[gr8icefishinmind]

Not for sure but i would think that a crank bait tied to a lindy would do you no good! Wouldn't the crank dive down off of the lindy rig while trolling, i would think you would have to go ALOT slower than 2mph!!

[TruthWalleyes]

There are several ways this can be done.

1) Leadcore

2) 3 way rig with a weight

3) Snap on weight 50' from crankbait.

All of this is explained in detail for diving depths etc in the trolling handbook.

[whitebassman]

should be able to work, the trolling bible does mention this, but using a 20 ft leader if i remember correctly.

rather than lindy rig, use a three way rig, with one swivel tied to the crank, and the other a short leader with the sinker. i usually prefer floating cranks in this setup, as when you stop or slow down it will float back up slowly. irresistible. has worked for me before.

(See above, guess he beat me to it!)

[PerchJerker]

Another vote for a 3 way rig. 3 ways do a nice job of keeping your bait just above the bottom. I'd think that with a traditional lindy rig setup you'd either be digging the crank into the bottom, or be up off the bottom but not have any idea exactly how far off the bottom you are.

A bottom bouncer would be better than a lindy too, but still not as good as a 3 way rig.

Good luck.

[anchor man]

how long of a leader would you put the crankbait on when using a three way rig? 5-6ft? ..and to clarify I'd be fishing over about 100ft of water targeting the 20ft zone for suspended fish.

[TruthWalleyes]

3 way rig crank baits explained

[RiverFish]

I use a bottom-bouncer/floating crank all the time in the WI river. Works great.

[Northlander]

In 100' of water a downrigger is another option if your talking the bottom 20'. If your talking the top 20' you dont need anything but a crank bait back 120 plus feet depending on what it is. Im guessing your saying bottom 20' and I dont consider that suspending when in 100'.

[ozzie]

I am guessing I know the chain of lakes he will be targeting I am going to say he would be targeting the 20' down over 100' of water. Like mentioned either just send it way back or put on weight one way or another and get after them. I tried this out on the chain and what I used was a heavier split shot about 5-6 up the line with the crank attached behind and sent it out aways behind the boat. I am not sure how deep I was running and I didn't catch anything but it felt like the crank was getting a ways down.

[PerchJerker]

If you're using a 3 way over 100 feet of water and trying to get 20 feet down, I'd go with a short dropper to the weight (12-18 inches) and run back 4-5 feet to the bait. I'd also use a stick bait or a small crank, not a deep diving crank. The "problem" you'll run into trying to target a specific depth with a weighted rig is that your depth will be entirely dependent on your boat speed, how much weight you have on, and how much line you have out.

In the situation you're describing, snap weights would be a good option. And if you only want to get 20 feet down there's lots of cranks that will get down that deep, especially on a thin superbraid line.

[anchor man]

that's correct Ozzie, I'm targeting the top 20ft over 100ft. I suppose a deep diver at 2-2.5mph should do the job with enough line out. I was just looking for some options to get it around 20ft or a bit deeper if needed. Split shots might be the simplest for this depth range, 3 way rig for a little deeper. thanks for all the info. Hopefully I'll be able to report back with some success.

[ozzie]

Please do report back as I have given this technique on the same body of water a limited try but have thought about tryong it again soon......I have heard of this trick taking good sized walleyes chasing the schools of whitefish over those deeper waters....

[anchor man]

I talked to guy I know in the area and he said he got a couple using this method a couple weeks ago. I've tried very briefly in the past, but would lose confidence quickly. I just need to dedicate a few outings to it and see how it goes. I'll let you know how it goes after the weekend.

[riverrat56]

I'd throw out another vote for just flat line trolling deep diving baits. If these fish are suspended 80' off the bottom already, they will have no issue coming up another 5' to crush a lure. Even a #9 Shad Rap would put you in the zone with about 120' of line out. Otherwise lures like Deep Tail Dancers, Walleye Divers, Rip Shads, and Salmo Bullheads would be good options to get down to around 20'. Keep it simple and everything seems to fall into place much easier. If you want to troll stick baits, then a 3-way is your best bet. Make sure your leader isn't to long so that you can't land a fish. 5-7' is ideal if you've got a 8' rod.

[anchor man]

Well I didn't do as much trollin over the deep water as planned. I spent about 30minutes doing it with no luck. I did land a couple eyes near the weedline though. one on a lindy/leech, one on a crank.

[ddsbyday]

A simple way is to use a 1.5 or 2 oz. keel sinker on a long enough leader to be sure you can land the fish. I usually make the leader as long as the tip of my rod to the reel. I would make them longer but if you are out by yourself it is hard to net them if the leader is any longer. It is a very effective technique for any lake with ciscos present.

[james_walleye]

I have to admit, im really intrigued by the snap weight deal. I can't count how many times i've been trolling shad raps or flickershads this year and wished i could get them down 16-18 feet. Certainly going to be picking some of those up.